title: The Effect of Telephone-Administered Psychotherapy on Symptoms of Depression and Attrition: A Meta-Analysis.
abstract: Increasingly, the telephone is being used to deliver psychotherapy for depression, in part as a means to reduce barriers to treatment. Twelve trials of telephone-administered psychotherapies, in which depressive symptoms were assessed, were included. There was a significant reduction in depressive symptoms for patients enrolled in telephone-administered psychotherapy as compared to control conditions (d = 0.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.14-0.39, p < .0001). There was also a significant reduction in depressive symptoms in analyses of pretreatment to posttreatment change (d = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.50-1.13, p < .0001). The mean attrition rate was 7.56% (95% CI = 4.23-10.90). These findings suggest that telephone-administered psychotherapy can produce significant reductions in depressive symptoms. Attrition rates were considerably lower than rates reported in face-to-face psychotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University, Hines Veterans Administration Hospital.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vella
authors.forename: Stacey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heckman
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Simon